Mirasol Hotel, 86 Davis Boulevard

Front view of Mirasol Hotel at 86 Davis Boulevard on Davis Islands. 1926. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Front view of Mirasol Hotel at 86 Davis Boulevard on Davis Islands 2021. © Chip Weiner

One of the crown jewels on D.P. Davis’s man-made islands was the $750,000 Marisol Apartment- Hotel built in 1925 and opened in 1926. One of three hotels built at that time, others being the Hotel Biscayne and the Palmerin Hotel, it was the only one built on the water. The rear of the hotel had a private yacht basin. Full-page newspaper promotional advertisements, somewhat a rarity in those days, trumpeted its opening and its luxury. By late 1929, the hotel was in receivership. By January 1930, it had defaulted on its $337,000 mortgage and a final decree of bankruptcy was obtained later that year shuttering it for nearly 3 years.

The building had 66 hotel rooms and 16 apartments and was reopened in 1932. In the 1950s, all rooms were converted to apartments. In 2016 the building sold for $10.3 million with plans to revitalize it. The building has been well preserved with the Mediterranean Revival look still shining, reminiscent of what Davis intended for the islands.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol.2

Mirasol Hotel, on Davis Boulevard, seven-story modified Venetian Revival with rough stucco exterior and tile roof. 1926. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Mirasol Hotel, on Davis Boulevard, seven-story modified Venetian Revival with rough stucco exterior and tile roof .2022.. © Chip Weiner

Mirasol Hotel yacht basin. Circa 1975. Gandy Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida digital collection.